The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

John 10:10

Good Sunday morning, everyone!

What’s on my mind today is a mixture of gratitude and deep concern. Saturday evening, praying for the family, the nation, the world etc., it occurred to me how this experience of living we enjoy – the old 90’s song “This Semi-charmed Life” came to mind – is exactly how life should be.

I’m thinking about the peace, the safety, the security, the freedom of expression, the freedom of religious practice, the limitless supply of food, the abundance of good things at our fingertips, the technology, the heat in winter and the air-conditioning in the summer, the fact that I can walk a beautiful neighborhood on sidewalks… and so much more.

We were given this gift of a Good Earth and the way my life is playing out – especially in the context of a happy marriage, a loving extended family, and being part of church communities where the generous goodness of God is celebrated and shared with wide open arms – is, I believe, what God intended when the whole thing was set in motion.

So I am extremely thankful for this Good Life, and this is front and center as we drive to worship this morning.

At the same time I understand only too clearly that my experience – our experience – is not that of the majority of the human family, and not even the majority of folk in our own nation. And so my enthusiasm is reined in by regret.

In consequence, this is my prayer:

“Thank you, loving God, for putting in place everything we need to live life in all of its fulness and joy. Please work your power, both in and through each one of us, to bring home the possibility of redemption, and wholeness, and peace, and freedom to all of your children. Amen”

In love, and because of what love makes possible – DEREK